Adam Scott set to take over from Tiger Woods atop golf's world rankings

Thu 15 May 2014, 6:28 AM AEST

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Climbing up ... Adam Scott will top the world rankings next week.

Getty Images: Kevin C Cox

Adam Scott will overtake injured Tiger Woods in next week's rankings to become golf's world number one for the first time, even though he will not play this week.

Scott, who won his first major title at last year's Masters, will become the first Australian to claim the top spot in the rankings since Greg Norman ruled the list for 331 weeks in the 1980s and 1990s.

Woods has been sidelined for more than six weeks following surgery to ease a pinched nerve that caused him to miss the Masters for the first time in his career and has not yet declared himself a definite starter for next month's US Open at Pinehurst.

Scott has missed four chances to overtake Woods based on his performance at tournaments in the past two months, most recently at last week's Players Championship, when he shared 38th and needed a top-16 effort to capture the top spot.

Because neither Woods nor Scott are playing, both will lose points in the two-year ranking system, but Woods - who is atop the rankings for the 683rd week in his career - will fall behind Scott when points are recalculated early next week.

Fifth-ranked American Matt Kuchar, the highest-rated threat in the field for this week's US PGA Byron Nelson Championship, could also pass Woods on the list with a triumph in Texas but would not be able to move ahead of Scott's new total.

"I think it's a nice feather in the cap, probably," Scott said last week.

"If I was never world number one when I'm this close, I would be disappointed, but I would also much rather win the US Open and not be number one at all this year. That's what it comes down to."

Scott becomes the 17th player to reach world number one and the fourth to overtake a rival for the top spot in a week when he is not playing, joining Lee Westwood, Nick Faldo and Ian Woosnam.